how to generate square pyramids from the faces of a uv sphere
Is this what you mean?



Start with the entire UV sphere selected A A
Poke the faces with AltP
Select just one of the new vertices. Press ShiftG > "Amount of connecting edges"  or from the 3D view header Select > Select Similar > "Amount of connecting edges". That will select the center vertex of each face.
Make sure the pivot point is set to Median Point, then scale S out.


Animated gif showing the above process.




Or maybe DupliFaces is more like what you want?


Model the prism object.
Now parent that to a UV sphere.
With the UV sphere selected. In the Object tab of the Properties window, scroll down to the Duplication section. Click on the Faces button.